1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of water displays.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, elaborate water displays have been used as centers of attraction for public and commercial buildings, as well as at tourist destinations such as hotels and the like. These displays are generally quite dynamic, having multiple individual displays, with the operation of each being orchestrated under computer control in coordination with the others to provide time varying patterns, etc. to hold the observer's attention. The more varied the operating appearance of any one water display, the more variation and accentuation the programmer may provide. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide different operating characteristics in a single water display to increase the programmer's selection of characteristics to increase the variety of the overall visual effects which may be achieved.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,801 (see also U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,066), an air-powered water display is disclosed which will eject a limited amount of water as high as hundreds of feet, depending upon the size of the display and the air pressure used. These displays have some form of one-way valve, normally a flapper valve adjacent the lowest portion thereof, to allow water to refill the chamber after the display has been fired, but to prevent the water and air from escaping from the bottom of the chamber during firing. While there is nothing separating the water in the upper part of the chamber from the high pressure air injected into the chamber adjacent the bottom thereof, only a limited amount of water will fall through the high pressure air, with most of the water being ejected through the nozzle as desired. As a result, a rather impressive display is obtained by simple control of a solenoid valve in a high pressure air line.
Also known in the prior art are water displays which shoot a single stream of water into the air. These displays can be used in large pluralities, with the pressure of the water delivered to each display being computer controlled so that the number of varying and undulating patterns which may be achieved will be substantially unlimited. An example of such displays is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,250. While a water stream could go to hundreds of feet in the air, the volume of water required to do this, particularly if multiple individual displays are so performing at the same time, may not be practical. Accordingly, the air-powered displays have the advantage of being operable with an air compressor of reasonable size together with a pressurized air accumulator tank to accumulate the energy for intermittent firings. Accordingly, the air-powered displays not only provide quite a different visual effect from the continuous flow displays, but also may be used for various types of accent purposes. In the present invention, these two types of displays are combined into a single assembly to provide individual displays having both capabilities, thereby increasing the variety of visual effects which may be achieved while avoiding the duplication required to obtain each individual effect from a separate individual display.
Another prior art air-powered water display for placement in a pool has a substantially vertical tubular member with a nozzle at the top thereof and a venturi restriction adjacent the bottom of the tube. The bottom of the tube itself is closed, except for a coupling to a source of pressurized air through a solenoid valve. The venturi has an opening just above the throat of the venturi which will admit water to refill the tubular member with water from the pool between firings. The venturi reduces the pressure adjacent the opening during firing so that the amount of air, if any, that passes out the opening to the pool during firing is sufficiently small so as to not effect operation of the display or cause distracting bubbles beside the display not apparently associated with the water ejected from the nozzle and falling back into the pool.